Our efforts to create a cleaner environment go beyond the confines of our own sites. We help wherever our support is needed - fully in line with the spirit of the Global Compact initiated by the United Nations.


 
In Belford Roxo, 85 percent of the waste incinerated by Tribel, a joint venture between Bayer and Tredi, comes from external companies and only 15 percent from Bayer's own production.
Our Belford Roxo site has an infrastructure of environmental facilities that is unique in Brazil: an incineration plant, a wastewater treatment plant and a landfill site, as well as a modern environmental analytics laboratory. These facilities have been transferred to Tribel, a 50/50 joint venture with the French company Tredi set up in August 2001, and are made available to other Brazilian companies, as they have the capacity to treat much more waste than we alone now produce. Our modern incineration plant, in which inorganic residue is completely destroyed, is one of only two in Brazil that have the technical capability to incinerate polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) in a way that does not damage the environment. It makes a useful contribution to the disposal of these substances, whose production was outlawed all over the world in 2001. All of our activities are regularly monitored by the environmental authorities. Following accusations by Greenpeace in 2000 that we were polluting the river Sarapuí, which flows alongside the plant, with PCB and mercury, both we and the environmental authorities stepped up the checks. We also commissioned an independent agency to perform analyses and sent samples to the Brazilian environmental authority to be on the safe side. None of these independent checks confirmed the Greenpeace analyses, hardly surprising since our plant does not use any mercury.

Only 15 percent of the waste Tribel incinerates comes from our Brazilian subsidiary Bayer S.A., with 85 percent coming from outside sources. The assistance we provide in waste disposal is in line with our company's Responsible Care principles.

 

  

 

 


Belford Roxo

Bayer S.A. Brazil


The barrels in a government store in northwest Pakistan had languished unnoticed for more than 20 years, their content and purpose long forgotten. The alarm sounded once the barrels, which contained around 60 metric tons of product, started to leak. Pakistan called on the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) [German Society for Technical Cooperation] for help, and they turned to Bayer. Some of the barrels contained Gusathion®, one of our insecticides.

This pesticide (active ingredient azinphos methyl) has a broad spectrum of action and is still a vital weapon in controlling many biting and sucking insects. Until 1997 it was used in Pakistan mainly to protect cotton fields and fruit plantations. The Pakistan government had bought the 60 tons of product more than 20 years ago, and had by mistake sent it to the government store in the northwest of the country. As the farmers in this region do not grow either cotton or fruit, it remained unused. When the barrels started to leak, experts from the GTZ and Bayer's Crop Protection Business Group visited the site to assess the situation and work out an appropriate method of disposal, since the product was no longer usable. But no solution could be found in Pakistan or the rest of Asia. The entire batch therefore had to be packed up safely in line with international legislation and carefully shipped to Europe, where it was destroyed in a suitable high-temperature incinerator without damaging the environment. We volunteered to share the cost of this disposal process.

 

Bayer Pakistan


Our interest in sustainable development is also reflected in a project at another Brazilian site. In 2002 our Porto Felíz site will start to use biomass instead of crude oil to generate steam. In future we will use wood residues coming mainly from the eucalyptus plantations which form the basis of the Brazilian paper and pulp industry. Most of these woodchips and sawdust are currently incinerated without producing anything useful. Converting to biomass incineration offers several advantages. Firstly, it helps plantations solve their environmental problems by avoiding the pollution caused by partly uncontrolled residue incineration. Secondly, using renewable wood to generate steam preserves crude oil resources for more valuable uses. Thirdly, conversion cuts down on previous levels of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide emissions. And fourthly, new jobs are created in the area around the suppliers.

 

  


Bayer has received an award for social responsibility from the Indian Chemical Manufacturers Association (I.C.M.A.) in recognition of the company's interest in socio-economic development in the areas where its plants operate. The prize acknowledges the Group's varied educational and welfare activities in India.

Bayer supports a number of projects in the region, including the work of VOICE, an organization dedicated to helping street children. Among activities sponsored or carried out by the company are school and training programs for children from underprivileged families, donating medical equipment to hospitals caring for poor patients, contributing to the costs of the local fire and police departments, planting trees to beautify the urban landscape of Thane, helping to restore the local temple and organizing regular social events and site visits for relatives of employees and neighbors to present the company's activities in health care, the environment and safety.

Over the past four years Bayer has also been supporting the Pulse Polio Program in India, which was initiated by the World Health Organization and the Rotary Club.

 

Bayer India

I.C.M.A.